As for the historical inspirations I drew on in writing The Snow Queen, I suppose I would call them more cross-cultural inspirations, though they frequently involve past societies as well as present day ones.

Indifference is the strongest force in the universe. It makes everything it touches meaningless. Love and hate don't stand a chance against it.

Humans may be the only creatures on Earth who spend significant time thinking about the fact that someday their lives will end.

Each time, storytellers clothed the naked body of the myth in their own traditions, so that listeners could relate more easily to its deeper meaning.

Moon is also a naive native girl when she sets out for Carbuncle.

The mers were also designed to reproduce only at long intervals, in order to maintain the natural balance of the environment in which they were placed.

Everything born has to die, in order to make room for the future.